Hospital to treat fever, others as suspected Ebola cases

To prevent the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) from hitting River State, patients will be treated as potential cases of the disease.

At a sensitisation workshop in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) said everything was being done to ensure Ebola did not get into the state.

The workshop was organised in collaboration with UPTH Hospital’s Infection Awareness Committee (HIAC). The event was to educate health workers on the need to be alert in handling patients as potential carriers of Ebola virus.

UPTH Chief Medical Director (CMD) Prof Aaron Ojule, said the decision was in line with the Federal Government’s declaration of a state of emergency on Ebola virus.

The move, he noted, would assist the hospital to be alert to prevent further spread of the disease.

The hospital, he said must prepare to contain Ebola by raising awreness among its workers because they are more susceptible to the disease.

Ojule warned health workers and residents to be on alert to identify any suspected cases especially within their environment.

“We must protect ourselves; at the same time we don’t pray that any case should come but what if it comes, the doctors and nurses must be prepared. We must see every patient as a potential suspect. And our work ethics must change especially the laboratory staff.

“I’m happy we have many of the hospital staff at the workshop, because we are the greatest risk of occupational hazard. We are working with both the state and Federal Government to see how we can contain the epidemic.”

The hospital, he said, is working hard to improve its diagnostic capability and create more awareness on the deadly virus in various places of the state.

“We must protect ourselves. The health workers will be deployed in rural communities where they will disseminate the information to prevent the disease from affecting our people,” Ojule said.